Ghanaian athletes off their marks, Yeboah sets new high jump indoor record
Ghanaian high jumper, Rose Amoanimaa Yeboah, has set a new national indoor record after clearing the bar at 1.88 metres on the first day of the Illini Challenge at the Illinois-Armory in Champaign, Illinois, last Friday.
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Freshman at the University of Illinois, the Ghanaian obliterated the previous school mark of 1.87m which stood in the name of Stacy Ann Grant since 1999.
Additionally, Yeboah's mark ranks fifth in US collegiate athletics. The 21-year-old won the women’s high jump competition ahead of second-placed, Taylor Beard, who cleared the bar at 1.70m.
Her impressive start to the indoor season is a big boost to Ghana's preparation for the upcoming African Games in Accra with Yeboah among high-profile athletes expected to lead
Ghana's quest for medals at the March 8-24 competition. She hit the limelight five years ago after winning gold in the high jump at the 2019 African Games in Rabat and also bagging another gold at the 2022 African Senior Athletics Championship in Mauritius.
With a personal best of 1.94 m outdoors, she was a finalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK.
It has also been a good season opener for Ghanaian athletes after sprint sensation, James Dadzie, qualified to participate in the men's 60m at this year's World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
Dadzie, who set a national men's 200m record last year while competing for Western Texas A&M University ran 6.58 seconds in the 60m for a fourth-place finish behind only NCAA Division I athletes at the Stan Scott Memorial Meet in Lubbock, Texas. His mark was the fastest 60-metre time in all of NCAA Division II this season.
Also running impressive times last Friday were William Amponsah and Sarah Koomson who won their races at the New Mexico Team Open in Albuquerque.
Amponsah set a personal best 8:09.84 minutes in the men's 3,000m indoor, while Koomson ran an impressive 9:55.79 minutes over the same distance.
The duo will be among the middle distance athletes expected to represent Ghana at the Africa Games in March.
